


Vows and Promises

by EveryDayBella



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Eloping, Found Family, Kinda, M/M, but its really sweet, close enough, getting married
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-08-14 15:50:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20194786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EveryDayBella/pseuds/EveryDayBella
Summary: Jamie had made a lot of promises in his life. At ten years old he’d promised his mom that when he made it to the NHL he would pay off her house. He’d signed contracts for millions of dollars promising his best play in return. None of it measured up to this promise.





	Vows and Promises

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eyeslikeonyx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eyeslikeonyx/gifts).

> betad by eafay70. Hope you enjoy!

There were certain rules about getting married when you were royalty. The place was determined because it was where everyone in your family had gotten married. The invite list was massive and precise, dictated by tradition and diplomacy. The wardrobe, the flowers, the reception - they were all controlled by forces far older than either of the people getting married. 

Jamie had understood that when he asked Tyler to marry him. They’d been dating for years; he’d thought he was used to the particular brand of crazy that came with dating the prince. It wasn’t like Tyler didn’t have to put up with things too. Jamie wasn’t royalty, just a simple boy from Victoria, but playing in the NHL in Dallas wasn’t exactly normal either. They’d become one of those popular couples that everyone wanted to know. The press were annoying and spending most of the year living apart was awful. 

But Tyler was also one of the kindest, gentlest, and wildest souls that Jamie had ever met. He had a grin that could make anyone smile and loved his dogs like no one else. He hadn’t always taken his responsibilities seriously, but he’d changed and Jamie couldn’t have been prouder of him. Getting on one knee to ask him to marry him hadn’t been nerve-wracking. 

It was just the planning, or nodding along and agreeing with all the wedding planning rules, that was the worst. 

It hadn’t been like that when Jamie’s older brother, Jordie, had gotten married. He and his now-husband Jason had picked a beach backdropped by the Pacific. It had just been close friends and family. They wrote their own vows and after the ceremony they ate dinner and partied all night on the beach. Jamie remembered it fondly because it was the first time he had seriously thought about marrying Tyler. It had been personal, filled with the things and people that were important to his brother and Jason. 

It felt nothing like their wedding at all. With two weeks to go nothing felt personal. It was designed to make them and the kingdom look good. 

Jamie sighed, feeling ungrateful. He was a lucky guy. He got to play the sport he was passionate about, had a family that loved him, and a fiance he adored. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for Tyler, even suffer through a terrible, puffed-up wedding if it meant he got Tyler at the end. That was the only part that mattered. 

Jamie grunted as there was a sudden weight across his waist. Tyler grinned down from his perch over him. Their bed in the palace was massive and soft, a welcome place to return whenever the day ended. Summer was about the only time Jamie got to stay for long, and if he was forced to be honest, he preferred the penthouse they’d gotten together in Dallas, but there was no denying this bed was a miracle. 

Jamie settled his hands across Tyler’s thighs as the other man leaned over him. Tyler was a fierce, demanding kisser and Jamie was more than happy to get swept away with him. There was nothing better after a long day than to end it with Tyler in their bed. 

He tipped them over, pressing Tyler into the mattress and drawing a moan from his lips. Warm skin and sweet sighs were his reward. They didn’t get to spend a lot of time together during the day, what with him training for the next season and Tyler with all his princely responsibilities filling up all their time. Getting Tyler in his arms at the end of the day was a precious thing that he didn’t take lightly. 

He nuzzled into the soft skin of his neck where he smelled like cologne and something deeper that Jamie could only explain as Tyler. Fingers moved moved through his hair, brushing it off his forehead intimately. Tyler’s hazel eyes were soft and warm, lips still red from their kisses. He looked tired and it pulled at something protective in Jamie’s chest. He traced the sharp curve of his chin, cheek stubble rough underneath his hand. Tyler’s eyelashes fluttered closed with a sigh.

“Long day?” Jamie asked, getting a nod in return. “Anything I can help with?”

“Unless you’ve got the urge to fight the council?” Tyler chuckled. “Probably wouldn’t even come close to the normal fights you get into.”

Jamie flushed and then shrugged. He was already aware of how hot Tyler thought he looked when he got in fights. “That bad, huh?”

“Not really. They’re just not happy I’m moving to Dallas.”

“You explained it’s temporary, right?” Jamie hadn’t been a big fan of the plan. He knew what Tyler did was much more important than him. He’d been planning to give up hockey, but Tyler wouldn’t hear of it. Tyler was of the opinion that Jamie gave up too much for him already and he was not taking his career. Besides, Jamie probably only had a few more years left. It wouldn’t be that big a deal, maybe.

“I did, but that's not how they think.” Tyler brushed it off and then groaned. “Oh, I have been firmly informed that there will be no rap music in our reception playlist. It’s apparently not dignified enough.”

Tyler snorted and Jamie laughed. “You’re not honestly surprised, are you?”

“No. I knew they would say no. It’s just that it’s our wedding and they’re making it out to be this huge thing that involves everybody, and it doesn’t. It involves you and me and that's it.”

“We shouldn’t have told them.”

“What, like eloped?” Tyler grinned.

“Yeah. I could have just taken you to Mexico.” Jamie spun the fantasy out into something he knew they would both like. “You love the beach.”

“How long does it take to get a marriage license in Mexico?”

“We could have gone to Vegas first?”

“And risk running into the Knights?” Tyler snorted; his fake annoyance at a hockey team that wasn’t Jamie’s was adorable. “Not likely.”

“Well it would be that or Atlantic City.”

“Ew.” They said at the same time before dissolving into giggles. 

“You know, I am the prince,” Tyler mused later, moonlight splayed across his pale skin. 

“Yeah?” Jamie rumbled, half asleep.

“Yeah. So screw a marriage license. We could just get married.”

“Skip all the hard work everyone else is putting in?” 

“I mean, yeah, that’s kinda shitty,” Tyler agreed and then brightened. “But we could at least do it on our own terms. Fuck the pagentery. We could just go to the priest right now. If I told him, he would have to do it.”

“And then he might get in trouble later?”

“I’d protect him. Think about it, Jamie.” Tyler’s voice was building in excitement as he warmed to his subject and Jamie couldn’t help but get swept along. “We could go right now. What do we need? Jordie and Jason are here. I can go wake up Cassidy and Candance. Your best man. My best girls. It would take about ten minutes, and then it’s over and we’re married and can get to the fun stuff. Like the honeymoon and moving in together and being together. That’s the only part I care about. Screw all the rest of the nonsense that's for everyone else anyway.”

“What about our parents?” 

Tyler’s face fell briefly, but then he shrugged. “I mean, they’re gonna be upset, but we’ll explain it and they’ll understand. They’re our parents. If they’re really upset we’ll let them throw us a party.”

“A restrained party.” 

Tyler grinned slowly, bright as a sun and filling Jamie with a glow. “Yeah? Yeah, you wanna do this?”

It was dumb. It was going to win Jamie no favors with Tyler’s peers, but that seemed a price worth paying. Tyler was right. The wedding part was just the prelude to the rest of their lives. It belonged to no one but them, and if they wanted it to start now, then it was no one’s business but their own. And Jamie very much wanted to get to the living part, not just the waiting part. 

“Okay, let’s do this.”

Tyler yanked him into a passionate kiss, and then a flurry of activity. 

* * *

Jordie yawned as they crept into the palace chapel. It was nowhere near the grandness of the cathedral they were supposed to be getting married in, but Jamie didn’t care. His heart thumped with nerves and excitement when the room was empty. 

“Look, I get not wanting to go through the whole crazy wedding part.” Jordie grumbled, manhandling Jason, who was still half asleep on his husband’s shoulder, into the room. “But why the middle of the night? I was asleep, you know?”

“Did I interrupt your beauty sleep?” Jamie snickered. 

“You know he needs it,” Jason muttered, poofy curls falling in his eyes and a teasing smile on his face. Jordie rolled his eyes and gently shoved Jason off. 

The door opened behind them again. Tyler and his two younger sisters crept into the room. Both the girls were dressed in dressing gowns and Tyler was in a pair of dark sweats and a shirt. It was a long way from the tuxes and designer gowns they should have been wearing, but Jamie had never seen anything more perfect. 

Cassidy and Candance swarmed him in warm hugs. Jordie thumped Tyler on the back in a way that was both friendly and threatening. Then his soon-to-be husband’s palm was inside Jamie’s own. He squeezed back while Tyler leaned against him. 

“The priest should be here in just a minute,” Tyler explained. “He was a little surprised but I think amused, too?”

“It’s very romantic,” Cassidy agreed. 

“And means I can do it later and Mom will just be mad at you, again, for giving me the idea,” Candance laughed while Tyler scowled at her. 

A back door opened and the priest, an older gentleman with kind grey eyes and an indulgent smile, motioned them over. Jamie’s stomach twisted in knots as they approached, not in fear but excitement. They were doing this. They were going to get married and then spend the rest of their lives together. For a moment he did wish the rest of their families were there, but the trade-off seemed more than worth it. They could get married and have it be their choice what happened and who was there. Anything was worth that. 

“I understand you want this to be brief?”

Tyler nodded and Jamie said, “We can’t risk Jordie turning into a pumpkin.”

His brother punched him while everyone else laughed, but there was a quiet appreciative look, too. It had always been a relief to know that Jordie liked Tyler, too. 

The priest directed Jamie and Tyler to stand in front of him, holding hands. “I’ll assume you don’t need the ‘speak now and forever hold your peace bit’?”

“No,” Tyler blushed. 

“Would you like the traditional vows or something a little more modern?”

Jamie had wanted to write their own, but that had gotten shot down pretty early in the planning process. But this wedding was theirs and since they didn’t have anything ready … “Modern?”

“Modern,” Tyler nodded. 

“Very well, repeat after me. I, Jamie Benn…”

“I, Jamie Benn,” he blushed a little, feeling awkward repeating his own name. Tyler grinned back, though, and that made everything better. 

“Take you, Tyler Seguin…”

“Take you, Tyler Seguin…”

“To stand by you, a rock to lean on, a shoulder to cry on, a pillow to rest your head on.”

The switch was immediate. It was remembering all the ways that Tyler would curl against his side. It was the way that Tyler always wanted to rush to his defense when something happened on the ice or the press ran their mouths again. There was no awkwardness in this, in making this vow, because it was the truth, plain and simple. “To stand by you, a rock to lean on, a shoulder to cry on, a pillow to rest your head on.”

“I promise to be here to wipe away tears of sadness, to elicit tears of joy, and to cry out to everyone who will listen how much I love you.” 

Jamie had made a lot of promises in his life. At ten years old he’d promised his mom that when he made it to the NHL he would pay off her house. He’d signed contracts for millions of dollars promising his best play in return. None of it measured up to this promise. His voice was thick and eyes burning, but the words rang with quiet convection. “I promise to be here to wipe away tears of sadness, to elicit tears of joy, and to cry out to everyone who will listen how much I love you.”

“Your Majesty?”

Tyler nodded, brown eyes shining with unshed tears. Jamie squeezed his hands encouragingly. 

“I, Tyler Seguin, take you Jamie Benn,”

“I, Tyler Seguin, take you, Jamie Benn.”

“To stand by you, a rock to lean on, a shoulder to cry on, a pillow to rest your head.”

“To stand by you, a rock to lean on, a shoulder to cry on.” Tyler coughed to clear his throat and Jamie grinned at him reassuringly. “A pillow to rest your head.”

“I promise to be here to wipe away tears of sadness, to elicit tears of joy, and to cry out to everyone who will listen how much I love you.”

“I promise to be here to wipe away tears of sadness, to elicit tears of joy,” There were tears rolling down Tyler’s cheeks, but Jamie could feel them on his own too. He had no idea how he was so lucky to get Tyler. “And to cry out to everyone who will listen how much I love you.”

“That won’t be hard,” Jordie snickered behind him. “They do that already.”

Tyler stuck his tongue out at him. The laughter of their friends and family was also not something they would have gotten at a big, stuffy royal wedding, but it would be one of the things that Jamie remembered best. 

“Do you have rings?” the priest asked.

Jamie nodded, turning to Jordie, who produced it from a pocket. It was a thick band of platinum, worth probably more than anything he had ever owned. Jamie slipped it on to Tyler’s finger, to seal the promise. 

Candance gave Tyler a similar one and he slid it one to Jamie’s finger. It felt heavier than it should have, weighted by vows and promises and the simple, all encompassing way that he loved Tyler. 

“With the power invested in me, I declare you husband and husband.”

They giggled at each other at both the ridiculous way it sounded and the bare, simple truth. They were married. They were it for each other. No matter what came from here. No matter where they went or what they did, they would always have each other, and there was something comforting in the thought. 

Him and Tyler. No matter what. 


End file.
